Hunter: A Thriller

From its first moments, Hunter takes you on a nonstop thrill ride: from the top floor of the CIA, to the marbled corridors of Capitol Hill...from the posh hotels of downtown Washington, to the city's mean, violent streets. It introduces a colorful new hero for our time - and a dazzling heroine every bit his equal. A spy mystery...a crime thriller...a passionate romance: Hunter is a genre-bending novel unlike any you've read. Deviously plotted, filled with vivid characters, and propelled at a breakneck pace.

An extra-judicial Javert

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is an enabler.”

Taking in the story of Hunter it occurred to me that it is, perhaps by design,..Show More » an almost perfect inversion of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. Where Hugo exposes a bygone criminal justice system that victimized the “guilty”, all out of proportion to their crimes, Bidinotto exposes a contemporary system that actually enables fearsome criminals, and has become part of the violent crime problem in a different way.

Bidinotto is famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) for exposing the Willie Horton case that defined the failed Presidential candidacy of Michael Dukakis in 1988. Here he is, decades later, distilling the same outrage into an effective work of fiction, his first. He’s a long time admirer (devotee?) of Ayn Rand, and the influence shows, a particular scene late in the book evokes the hijacked radio address at the climax of Atlas Shrugged, though Bidinotto’s version is blessedly shorter. Above all the influence shows in the clarity of the prose, and the fact that while Hunter has the elements of a thriller, it’s ultimately a morality tale.

The narrator does a fine job, though I have a minor quibble. For most of the book, there’s little question who “the killer” is. This isn’t an Agatha Christie mystery, building to a big reveal at the end. However, early on, the grammar used to refer to the killer is strictly pronouns, I believe the author doesn’t want you to have ID’d which character it is, yet. The narrator, however, uses the same distinct timbre he used for the killer for another major character, so even if Bidinotto had employed all of Agatha Christie’s gifts for misdirection, you’d have to know who it is. It's certainly a characterful narration however, all the way down to the stubborn feline.

Bad Deeds

At a cabin in the Allegheny National Forest, Dylan Hunter and Annie Woods seek to heal the wounds from their ordeal at the hands of a twisted psychopath. And to build a life together, Dylan promises Annie that he'll abandon his violent ways. But ideological zealots and Washington's political elites have conspired to terrorize and plunder the hardworking locals. These victims have no protector against the bad deeds of the powerful and privileged. Except for one man. A man as ruthless and violent as they.

Exciting, suspenseful and thought provoking

Political corruption and short falls in the justice system causes Dylan Hunter to once again be drawn back into his vigilantly ways; this not only put..Show More »s him and others in danger but it also causes problems in his personal life. The complex relationship between Annie and Dylan is captivating and the edge-of-your-seat tension the author and narrator creates makes this audiobook difficult to put down. It is a well written, very exciting thriller that follows on well from book one. It can be read as a stand alone but if you read the first in the series prior to this one, you will get a lot more out of it. Not only is this a great sequel to Hunter, but it also examines the emotions and costs of personal principles/honour vs commitment to loved ones. The points raised and dilemmas faced by the protagonists makes you think, make you consider which one would come first in your life; could you resist following your principles, even if doing so risked your relationship with your loved one? I'm not sure which would be harder to live with, compromising your principles or potentially causing irrevocable harm to your relationship! This story leads you on a complex, suspenseful journey that blurs the lines between right and wrong. Is there such a thing as justifiable homicide or is murder always murder, even when the law has failed us? If we condone individuals taking the law into their own hands, even if it seems the more moral thing to do, are we not taking one step closer to eventual anarchy? Once again the narrator did an excellent job, bringing to life the characters and infusing emotion into the narrative. The characters individual personalities were easily identified and very well portrayed. I look forward to enjoying the next book in the series. I received this audiobook from the author at no cost in exchange for an honest review.